Blog 14: Outdoor Adventures

Time to check out some outdoor activities! In my case, I wanted to try water rafting and skydiving.

For rafting, I chose Buller Gorge. I hadn't done it before and picked a grade 3-4 rafting without knowing what that meant. It was a lot of fun; that's what I can say so far. Two more people from Australia joined me, and we had three exciting hours with our local guide on the river.

I also planned to do a skydive from 13,000 feet, which meant 50 seconds of free fall, near Fox Glacier. Marama chose a helicopter flight with a snow landing. It was a birthday gift for both of us since our birthdays are coming up next week. ;) Unfortunately, the weather was too rainy and windy for jumping and flying, so we had to stay longer in the glacier area than originally planned.

I hadn't been as nervous as I was in a long time before the jump. I went to the skydiving center twice, but the jump was cancelled due to strong winds. Luckily, on the third try, I was allowed to jump. My tandem guide was a funny and entertaining Indian. The airplane was incredibly small. It was hard to breathe during the free fall, but the overall feeling was wonderful. After that, I was allowed to control the parachute myself. Plus, the location was perfect - glaciers, lakes, the ocean, and the mountains. I would love to do it again. :)